Youngsters across the TYNE VALLEY will be able to follow in the footsteps of Greta Thunberg by becoming ‘green influencers’ after funding from The Ernest Cook Trust. The Northumberland Wildlife Trust have been able to benefit from the grant to employ a ‘Green Mentor’ who will work with young people to create a series of social action projects within their local area. Open to children aged 10-14, the Green Influencers Scheme has been created using the #iwill Fund and has been backed by both The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department of Culture Media & Sport. The project has seen 36 host organisations across the country selected to host 40 Green Mentors funded for by the grants to help lead their local community to protect the environment and tackle climate change.
A vertical mulcher machine is used to clear trees during the restoration of an ancient bog near Kielder Water in Northumberland. The ancient habitat, known as the Border Mires, is under threat from encroaching trees which are being removed as part of a A TIMBER harvester that chips a tree from top to bottom in just a few seconds is being used by Forestry England to speed up restoration of one of the UK’s most important peat habitats. The Border Mires is a network of 55 sphagnum bogs covering 2,800 hectares of Kielder Forest and now, cutting edge technology is playing its part in the form of a so called “vertical mulcher”.
Machines that munch through trees in seconds are being used to speed up the restoration process in one of the UK’s most important peat habitats.
Demand for timber in the post-war era saw spruce planted in the unique Border Mires network near Kielder Water in Northumberland, with drainage put in to help them grow.
That dried out the nationally important sphagnum bog and the tree cover blocked out light in an environment where rare plant species should thrive.
The mires, formed 12,000 years ago as the Ice Age ended, were also a useful hideout in the 17th century for Scottish cattle rustlers who used their knowledge of its paths to escape the English authorities.